Welcome Fabio.

Rottweiler for a first dog, huh? I wish you well. Hang on, I imagine you're in for a wild ride. At least you came to the right place for help.

My first piece of advice on a Rott pup is don't bring that pup home too soon.

The pup learns a LOT of how to behave from the mother and the other pups. Big dogs mature slowly. Your relationship will be better if you begin when the puppy is a little older.

I wouldn't consider bringing the pup home before 9 wks. 12 would be best, but if you can't stand to miss the super baby stage, at least get the pup up to 8-9 wks with the mother.

second what mara is saying there fabio .

find a friend ( or someone ) who has a dog you like that you can spend a little time with . make sure that person is aware of what you are trying to accomplish so that they are a positive factor in your training , not a negative .

one thing , you said about " watching from 500 meters " . . . remember , the important thing is that the dog is watching YOU ! so whatever you are doing to develop the engagement with the puppy , it has to be well practiced in a distraction free environment before you can expect engagement with distractions at any distance .

ME: You have already received a boatload of good advice.



FABIO: I'm Fabio from Italy.

I follow Leerburg from 1 year, I watched a lot of dvd's and I spent nights reading forum.

I'm big fan of Michael Ellis, and saw all his vids on youtube or dvds.

Im going to get my first dog in 60 days ( yesterday she's born ). Gonna be a puppy Rottweiler female.
Since its my first dog, I wanna be prepared.

I have many questions, and I wanna be prepared. Reading so much information, and its hard all together, I hope you can help me.

IM sorry for my english,

1 ) I saw some old videos of ED , and sometimes he says stuffs that are totally opposite of Michael Ellis.
Ellis videos are newer so I have to consider what he says instead of ED ?

ME:
Ed's protocols have evolved over the years. Remember that Ed produces the Ellis videos. As Ed says here http://leerburg.com/markers.htm , "I had been training dogs for 30 years when marker training first started. I spent the 1990's telling people it was stupid. Well the only stupid one was myself because I never took the time to really study the training system and learned how to apply it to the areas of dog training I had an interest in. ... Today I tell people that marker training is the most effective training system I have seen in my 50 plus years of training dogs. It's a black and white method of communication that is based on positive reinforcement."



FABIO: I looked around but a lot of trainers use different methods from Michael ellis, and on this forum I learned that bad trainer can ruin your dog. So my plan is to skip puppy classes, to skip obbedience classes etc. and just teach my dog using stuffs from dvd's and forum.

A common say from TV and books, you must got ASAP to puppy classes and obedience or else your dog gonna be impossible to manage, specially a rottweiler. But if trainers are bad, or other dogs just run loose and attack other dogs ( saw at the camp of my friend ). I remember ED saying that only 1 dog aggression is needed for make your dog aggressive to other dogs.



ME: More than half of the trainers I know or have watched are, IMHO, not very good (or terrible). A good one is great to have on your side, but I'd rather have none than a bad one, when there are such good DVDs to be studied (and I say study, not skim over once, those Ellis DVDs .... I still see new things when I go back to check on something or answer someone's question).

And as for even a chance of an attack .... one attack, even brief, even with no physical damage, changes a dog ..... and that might be forever.

Ian said "find a friend ( or someone ) who has a dog you like that you can spend a little time with . make sure that person is aware of what you are trying to accomplish so that they are a positive factor in your training , not a negative ."

Yes. My dogs do happen to have a couple of dog play buddies, but it just happened as I met owners with the same goals as mine and balanced dogs. But I don't much think that dogs require playdates/playmates outside their pack (even if there is only one dog in the pack).

I know it's not universal, but for me, socializing my dogs to other dogs is much more of a desensitizing thing than a meet-n-greet.

 Quote: ian bunbury

.... one thing , you said about " watching from 500 meters " . . . remember , the important thing is that the dog is watching YOU ! so whatever you are doing to develop the engagement with the puppy , it has to be well practiced in a distraction free environment before you can expect engagement with distractions at any distance .

This should be a billboard.




Also, Fabio said "I saw some old videos of ED , and sometimes he says stuffs that are totally opposite of Michael Ellis. Ellis videos are newer so I have to consider what he says instead of ED ?"

You can always ask us specifics .... some things might just be semantics, while others may indeed be pre-marker methods.

You're in a good place.

Welcome, Fabio.

I've read this thread and there is a lot of good advice here. There is also some conflicting info, so I would like to offer my opinion on one specific issue.

I agree that working with a trainer might not be the best avenue to take and you certainly need to establish a bond and handle your dog yourself. However, in a club setting you can expose yourself to other trainers who will help teach you how to train your dog. Any trainers you work with should be helping and teaching you, not doing it for you or telling you that you have to do it one way only.

Mara pointed out that a class may be too long for a pup. The benefit to club training is that the pup is not actively training at all times. You work for a few minutes, then it's someone else's turn. You can even put the pup away in a crate between sessions.

One of the things that my club does a lot of is working with new handlers and young dogs. It is good for the pups. They train, get lots of free time, lots of play, and multiple short sessions working on one thing at a time. There are opportunities for socialization both with dogs and people. Most importantly, you, as a new handler, are exposed to multiple trainers, most of whom can help you in one way or another. They will want you to learn for yourself and they will want you to succeed.

With a new pup just house breaking can be frustrating to a new dog owner.

Take the pup out as soon as it wakes up, right after it eats, when play time is finished and, DEPENDING on age take it out every half hour.

No food or water after 7PM.

Don't play with it if your outside to do his business.

Be consistent, be fair and have fun!

Housebreaking is huge because it's such a bond-maker (or breaker!).

As Bob says, the puppy needs to be outside when he has to go, and then praised when he does go outside.

Any accidents are 100% the owner's fault.

Fabio, do you know about tethering the pup to you inside?

6) Tethering and crate/expen

Im totally aware of tethering, thanks to this forum :-)

From what I've understood 1st year of the dog will be :

- when no one at home/when I cant focus on the dog : little crate, so dog cant pee inside his den

- when im at home and I wanna stay with my dog , tether them to me. Like when im at computer or im doing stuffs around house.

- Never leave dog alone, if hes alone should go into crate.

- I can use ex-pen if im in same room, and dog can relax there with few toys or take a nap. Thinking about watching television.

- Feed the dog inside the crate so he get positive experience from crate.

I saw a seminar of Stanley Coren, funny guy, at the end he said something about when your dog get a bit dominant, you should feed him from your hands, what you think about it ? Its not about remove food, its just about to hand down the food and let the dog eat it from your hands directly. He says its to let the dog understand that you own food and he survive thanks to you. Any feedback about this ?


7 ) House Breaking

- When I bring him outside, praise him after he pee etc.

Im going to bed at midnight, it is right to wake up at 4-5 AM to bring him out just for pee for the first months ?

A pup without water from 7Pm till next day, isnt too much for him ?


Thanks again !

Yes, you will be waking up at 4 a.m. or so for a while. It's worth it in the end, I promise you. Your goal is never to have an accident, and that's up to you. A baby puppy doesn't know much more than a baby human. But if he is outside every time he has to go, he will start to perceive that outside is where potty happens. Every mistake that he is forced to make (by being in the wrong place when he has to go) sets that back.

When I have a new dog (foster, adoptee, puppy or not), a huge part, a major goal, of the first weeks is to have the dog outside when he has to go. Before and after meals, water, or play, before bed and immediately upon getting up.

Others are more expert on puppies, though, so you'll want to heed their advice (Tracy, Bob, Anne, and many more).


Fabio, here is a thread that that you might want to start reading before making your raw feeding thread:

http://leerburg.com/webboard/thread.php?topic_id=34041&page=5#389360

and

http://leerburg.com/webboard/thread.php?topic_id=32656&page=1#366438